Love at First Sight

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Saturday, October 17, 2015

Since I wrote last, we have been settling in well. We've gone on hikes, rides through the mountains, fishing, mountain biking, ate some delicious food at local restaurants, enjoyed some beautiful sunrises and sunsets, a little bit of shopping, baking, cooking, the list goes on and on.

Although, I continually add decor and take decor away, I've had the place setup since the first week we moved in. Of course, there are still some pictures to hang and some Pinterest projects to come to life, but for now it feels just like home.

Since we moved out here, I've had a ton of requests for photos of our new home. So without further ado, I'll sit back and let the pictures do the talking on this one.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

It has been over 2 years since I last wrote a post on here. Originally, I started this blog as a way to share our life with our family back in Georgia. We decided to buy a house and there were many exciting things that I found myself repeating to family over the phone. So as a way to keep everyone updated and in tune with our happenings, I figured writing our story would be easier. Plus, who doesn't love pictures! Over the past few years, we have spent time emerging ourselves into a life in SC, as well as continually finding ourselves knee deep in house projects.

Now I sit here 3.5 years later in the same boat. After a whirlwind of 2 months, we find ourselves at our new home in Colorado. Over the past month I have received question after question about our move. But I know there are also many out there that have questions that haven't asked. So in an effort to share our story, I figured that now was the right time to pull the laptop out and use the blog as a means to share our life with family and friends back in Georgia and South Carolina.

Here's to a new beginning!

This journey began on June 29th, 2015. That was the day we sent out Daniel's resume.

A little back story here. We never planned to stay in SC forever. However, we created a life there; with a home, friends, jobs. We had found our place. There was still that part of us that itched for adventure and to live in the mountains. Over the 6 years living in SC, Daniel had applied for jobs before in an attempt to make our way back to the mountains of North Georgia. However, nothing ever worked out. Timing wasn't right and it wasn't meant to be. But that didn't mean that we never talked about moving. It was always in the back of our mind. Over the past year and a half, our lives leveled out a little more. Daniel had progressed to the top in his career. I graduated, found a career, and passed the CPA exam. So timing was looking a little more right for us. In June, we started talking more and more about it in our "life discussions". Folks you know what I'm talking about here. Those times you sit down with your spouse and talk about dreams, worries, fears, future, etc. We asked ourselves "What do we want to do with our life? Where do we want to be in a year? 2 years? 5 years?" So after a week of discussions, we decided to send out Daniel's resume and see what happened.

Quick timeline:

June 29th - Daniel sends out resume to cooperatives in Colorado (one being in Conifer, CO - which if you know our address in SC was Conifer Road. How crazy would it be to go from Conifer Rd to Confier, CO?!? Freaky!)

June 30th (which also happens to be my birthday! What a grand present I received) - Daniel received a call within 12 hours of sending his resume from a prospective employer

July 1st - Daniel's phone interview, they ask him to come out to CO

July 6th - Daniel received a call from a 2nd company, I sent out my resume

Week of July 6th - I received numerous calls and set up interviews for while in Denver

July 11th & 12th- We fly out to Denver for the weekend and check out everything. Exploration phase.

July 13th - Daniel has interviews, I have 3 interviews (this was a chaotic day by the way - we began by going to the rental car place and getting a 2nd car so we could split up for the day. Daniel blitzed around town to his interviews and I went from 1 interview to the next without stopping. We met back up at the airport that afternoon to catch our 5:00 flight. We landed at midnight and got home at 1am, all in preparation for being at work the next morning, also while no one knew. Whew!)

July 14th - Daniel gets an offer for the job he really wants in Conifer!

Week of July 13th - I had 4 additional phone interviews

July 15th - Daniel accepts the job

July 16th/17th - I tell my firm about what is going on and next miraculous happening - my firm offers to keep me on with them and let me work remotely for them in CO. Talk about stars aligning.

Last week of July I start heavily looking for a house for us to rent in CO - striked down by house #1

July 27th - We put our house up for sale

August 3rd - Daniel puts in his 2 weeks notice and I begin packing

First week of August - striked down by house #2

August 12th - We sign the lease for house #3 and we finally have a place to go to in CO

August 14th - We leave for Hawaii

August 22nd - We return from Hawaii

August 23rd - We load up the Uhaul and spend the evening with my family for one last time before we go

August 24th - We clean up the house and do some final things and head out to pick up our doggies and see Daniel's family one more time before we go

August 25th - We drive from Habersham, GA to Kansas City, MO - LONG LONG day

August 26th - We drive from Kansas City, MO to our new home in CO. I finally have my freak out moment. We really just did this. We just moved across the country. That was when it finally hit me. We begin moving in the house and that was all she wrote. Now I sit here in our new home writing this post,with boxes that still need to be unpacked as we settle in our new home.

We spent some time over the past week checking out the area out and of course, getting in a hike at a nearby park. It is absolutely breathtaking here. It is everything we hoped for and more. We are so excited to be here and to see what our future holds for us.

Since we made the announcement and told everyone about our move, I have received numerous questions from folks. So I figured why not answer them today as well. So here are 9 FAQ and Answers about our move to CO.

Question 1: Why Colorado?

Answer: There are several reasons. First, one big reason is that Daniel has always dreamed about moving here. Actually, that was the 1st thing both of his parents said when we told them (Pretty much Daniel's family lived in St. Simons for the summer (haha-jk) so we had to tell them separately since Anthony and the kids were at the beach and Ginger was back in Habersham. Literally they both said the exact same thing). Secondly, its a beautiful place. If you've never been to CO, you are missing out on life. When we flew out here for the interviews, I knew I could live here. I literally was in awe of the amazingness of God's masterpiece. Third, when narrowing down areas we wanted to live in there were some requirements for the city so that it suited us. We knew we wanted to live in/near the mountains. We knew we didn't want to move back to Habersham (sorry folks - there is just so much to offer out there). We knew that we needed to be close to a city for my career, but we also wanted to be far enough away so that we could still have our rural life. Upon looking at several cities on the east coast, none really had what we were looking for. And there lies Denver. The Mile High City. The city in the mountains. You can be in the most rural parts of CO and still within a 45 minute drive to the metropolis of Denver. And the view of the mountains agains the city. Breathtaking. Seriously, you should plan your trip now. So the choice was easy really. So really the question is why not Colorado?

Question 2: Do you have jobs out there?

Answer: Duh? Of course, we have jobs. Money doesn't grown on trees. Making sure we have a way to bring home the bacon was definitely one of the most important parts of this decision. I'm not one to just hope something works out. I like a good plan. Obviously if you read the story above, you will see that obtaining jobs was step #1 in this process. And look at how beautifully it all fell into place as well. I mean seriously we were extremely blessed in the job field. When I was making a list of pros and cons for a move, really the only con on the list was that I didn't want to leave my job. Talk about answered prayers.

Question 3: Are you moving to CO so you can smoke pot since it is is legal there?

Answer: Yea, because you know we loved to smoke pot in GA and SC anyways. Dumbest question of all. I hate this one actually. Yes, pot is legal. Do we care? No. We don't do drugs. Also, for folks who say well why would you want to live somewhere were pot is legal? Well, in case you didn't realize pot is smoked everywhere even where it isn't legal. Folks in CO just aren't breaking the law like the folks you see in Walmart in GA and SC are. If you don't think pot is being smoked there, then you are seriously fooled.

Question 4: What do your families think?

Answer: Our families are very excited for us. Of course, they were very sad to see us go. They will miss us greatly. However, they are super proud of us for following our dreams. I can't say that they were surprised. Growing up moving a lot, I guess you could say it just comes natural for me. I love adventure and change and exploring the world. So my parents weren't too caught off guard. They knew it would come eventually. It was just sooner than expected. Which honestly, it was sooner than I expected as well. I never expected that the process would go so quickly and I would be sitting here in CO 2 months from the beginning. Like I said above, Daniel's parents knew he always dreamed of moving here. So I think they were overjoyed that he was fulfilling his dreams. However, like I said goodbyes are hard and it's always nice knowing you are only a drive away.

Question 5: Aren't you scared of being so far away from family?

Answer: No. We began our marriage being away from family. We started off in SC all on our own. We had each other and that was all we needed. It really helped us learn to depend on each other and only each other. We couldn't run home to mommy and daddy if we needed something or were mad. I think it's great for a newly married couple. In fact, I would recommend anyone to do it. The Bible says the 2 are to leave their families and become 1 new family. When you are forced to do this, it really helps your marriage get started on the right foot. I'll get off that soapbox now.

Question 6: What are you going to do if you have kids way out there being so far away from family?

Answer: When I've heard this question, I quickly realize that the person asking doesn't really know us that well. If you've spent any time around us, you know that we are pretty content with just us. Originally when we got married, we said we would wait 5 years to have kids. We've gotten to that point and still have no desire. Folks say we will wake up one day and feel the bug, however until if we get to that point then we will think about those things. Until then, we will keep our fur babies, long nights full of sleep, ability to pickup and do whatever whenever, buy things we want, etc. :)

Question 7: Isn't the cost of living really expensive out there?

Answer: Really the only thing that is much more expensive is housing. The housing market is intense out here with the large amount of growth Denver and the suburbs surrounding are experiencing. However, another thing that fell into place was us getting a house we love which happened to also be the cheapest one we looked at. Other than housing, everything else is pretty similar. Gas is a little more right now, however when we came back in July it wasn't much different. Milk is actually way cheaper here ($1.99/gallon). So there are gives and takes, but its not much different (at least not that we are concerned about).

Question 8: What are you going to do with your house in SC?

Answer: Our house in SC is up for sale. We are hoping to sale it soon, however we planned our move out here accordingly with that in our budget. Folks, remember I'm an accountant. I've got this planned down to a "T" as much as possible. I had a spreadsheet for this. Thank goodness when we bought our house in SC, we didn't max ourselves out. Our mortgage is literally laughable to most, so we are going to be ok for a bit. We did a lot of hard work to that place which helps make it really marketable. I have faith that we will be able to sale it. Send folks our way if you know anyone interested. :)

Question 9: Isn't it going to be very cold in Colorado?
Answer: Yes. Isn't it very hot in SC? It's all about personal preference. We aren't hot people. We like cool weather, where you can actually do stuff outside. Yes, it will be an adjustment and I'm sure there will be days where we wish we had the SC heat. However, overall we are very excited for this transition. Plus, you can always put clothes on. You can only take so many clothes off. So I'll just sit over here and enjoy my fall weather right now (woke up to 60 degrees in the house this am) while SC weather jumps straight from summer to winter. :)

I hoped this helped fill you in folks and I look forward to keeping everyone updated on our journey here in CO.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

With the most recent blog posts showing our new renovations and revamped rooms, I have had several folks ask questions like, "Where did you get....?" So in honor of those questions and for the others who didn't ask, I figured I would dedicate a special post to telling you a little bit about my favorite things.

I have a modge podge of decor coming from places such as Goodwill to TjMaxx.

I hope that you have enjoyed seeing where some of my favorite things came from. My honey holes are yard sales, Goodwill, and thrift stores. I'd encourage anyone who hasn't tried them out to check it out one day and I hope you are able to find some treasures that will put a smile on your face as mine do.

Monday, August 12, 2013

As promised, the conclusion of our 2nd major project is here; we worked up the courage to rip out the camouflaged floor and install new flooring throughout the kitchen, dining, and laundry area. Knowing that most projects we have undertaken have had major speed bumps delaying or making our work harder, we discussed taking a break in between the bathroom and the new floor, but we knew that if we ever sat down the chances of ever getting up again would be slim to none. Therefore, with the finish line so close and special guests coming into town the next weekend, we dove in headfirst for one more week of hard labor to complete our 2nd major renovation. We used every spare minute we had in between working our normal work week and me being on call to complete this project. So without further ado.....

The camouflage floor comes out

Whitney using all her muscles to remove the stuck on tile

The flooring we found underneath in true 1960 fashion and in keeping with the tone of the rest of the house, the small squares are green

New flooring goes in

The Mountain Dew was important to keep the energy up

Grouting the last few tiles

Welcome to our new home!

New dining chairs from Ikea

We also decided to liven up the other rooms while we were at it. Whitney went through and polished all the hardwood floors giving them a new shine as well.

I'm so glad Daniel decided to help me write these posts! We couldn't have done it without all of his hard-work and handy skills. I stood in mostly as a cheerleader at times, but got in there and helped as much as I could. I couldn't be a prouder wife than I am at this moment! I'm so glad everyone has kept up with our renovation and I hope that it inspires you to make those changes around your house you have been wanting to do! What I thought would be a weekend project (haha, what was I thinking?), turned into many weeks of hard work and long nights, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything when I get to stand and look at my new home! We have truly turned this house into our home.